Images & Art

Jericho

The "City of Palms" spreads out on the west side of the Jordan River at 825 feet below sea level. The Old Testament site of Tell es-Sultan is in the distance and is the city Joshua destroyed. In Jesus' day a new center had been constructed on the wadi banks in the foreground by the Hasmonean rulers and Herod the Great.[Bible Places]...

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Jerusalem Area G

The City of David was very narrow; about 80-100m wide. The east side has a steep slope of about 60 degrees. Though smaller, steeper and more difficult for construction than the Western Hill, the City of David was chosen because of its water source, the Gihon Spring.[Bible Places]...

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Southern Temple Mount

These excavations begun by Benjamin Mazar in 1968 were the largest earth-moving archaeological projects in Israel. Work continued until 1978 but has since resumed in the 1990s under the direction of Ronny Reich. These excavations are the most important for understanding the Temple Mount because of the impossibility of excavating on the mount itself...

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Dead Sea

Known in the Bible as the "Salt Sea" or the "Sea of the Arabah," this inland body of water is appropriately named because its high mineral content allows nothing to live in its waters. Other post-biblical names for the Dead Sea include the "Sea of Sodom," the "Sea of Lot," the "Sea of Asphalt" and the "Stinking Sea." In the Crusader period, it was ...

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Temple Mount

Often visitors wonder why the Temple Mount isn't the highest point in the city when the Bible seems to describe it as such. The answer is that the city today (including the "Old City") has grown and shifted from its original location. The earliest city of Jerusalem is the "City of David," a smaller hill south of, and lower than, the Temple Mount.[B...

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Elath

The southern tip of modern Israel, ancient Elath was outside the prescribed boundaries of the Promised Land for the children of Israel. It was one of the stops on the wilderness travels (Deut 2:8). The relationship of Elath to Ezion Geber is unclear; the Bible says that these two places were near each other by the Red Sea but the exact location of ...

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Tomb of the Kings

Generally regarded as the largest and most beautiful tomb in Jerusalem, the so-called "Tomb of the Kings" was the final resting place for the family of Queen Helene of Adiabene in the first century A.D. Located 820 m north of the Old City walls, the tomb got its name from early explorers who believed that this magnificent tomb housed members of the...

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Gezer

Situated near the International Coastal Highway and guarding the primary route into the Israelite hill country, Gezer was one of the most strategic cities in the Canaanite and Israelite periods. Gezer is a prominent 33-acre site that overlooked the Aijalon Valley and the road leading through it to Jerusalem. The tell was identified as biblical Geze...

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Warren's Shaft

Discovered by Charles Warren in his investigations of the city in the 1860s, this underground tunnel system has become known as "Warren's Shaft." The system by this name consists of four parts: the stepped tunnel, the horizontal curved tunnel, the 14 meter vertical shaft and the feeding tunnel. Scholars have long debated the date and function of ...

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Hebron

Hebron's Sacred Ground: A Testament to Abraham's Love and Legacy Genesis 23 unfolds a poignant chapter in the narrative of Abraham, the patriarch of ancient Israel, as he acquires a hallowed piece of land in Hebron for a burial cave, destined to become a sacred repository for generations to come. In a transaction that echoes the intricate dance of ...

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